I was put off by its length. At roughly four and a half hours, the opera dragged for most of the first act. Worse than that, the story was hard to follow not having read the synopsis ahead of time, a spoiler one might think, but not in an opera; I need to know what it's all about.It was even tougher for Celine who was seated next to me and whose subtitle screen had malfunctioned. Sung in Russian and with no Met Titles to translate, it's hard to fake an applause when you had no clue what just went on!
I do not have photos to prove it but Celine dozed off a bit and I don't blame her. There's something about staring at the stage from our Family Circle seats, focusing on the singing while intermittently stealing a view from your neighbor's tiny screen, that interferes with one's ability to stay awake. No, this is not made up. You try it with the dim lights inside the opera house. As we say in New York, "What are ya gonna do?" She moved to the empty seat to my right, after intermission and by this time already terribly annoyed.
There was no impassioned romance or a plump diva belting out high notes. It's a story of power and guilt, Russian history in the making. Boris Godunov is based on Alexander Pushkin's play of the same title which details the rise and fall of a remorseful tsar who ordered the murder of the rightful heir to the throne to clear the way for his own gain.
The set design was spare and quite traditional. The historical idea was reinforced by showing large maps. Most striking was the use of an oversized book which laid open onstage on which the monk Pimen was recording the history of the time, in whose pages sometimes the characters literally wrapped themselves.
There was a wealth of good voices. With the German bass Rene Pape as the lead character, the production came much more to life as the chorus delivered its best. It was a big part for them.
There was no prelude, no memorable arias but enough monologues were barked out. One just has to concentrate on the beauty of Russian music more than the story itself. There is no question in my mind, the stars of this opera are Rene Pape as Boris and the Met Opera Chorus - the tsar and the mob.
